An Introduction to

the Carnatic Flute

Copyright of Aadishabdam. All rights reserved.

Objectives
• Understand the anatomy of the Carna0c Flute

• Understand the fundamental fingering of the musical notes

• Appreciate the historical development of the Carna0c Flute

• Appreciate the significant contribu0ons of the Carna0c Flute

to Carna0c music
Synopsis
• Origins

• Techniques

• Performers

• Evalua0on

• Conclusion
Origins
• Topics

• Early Music
• Sangam Music
• Post-Sangam Music
• Vedic Music
• Modern Era
Origins – Early Music
• Evidently, archaeological findings proof that the flute had
been the earliest musical instrument that has captured the
imagina?on of music across many cultures in the world

• Built with a diverse range of materials from animal bones, to

hollow wood tubes, bamboo & even metal, every major
culture in the world has its musical origins from the flute

• The only excep?on that makes each flute unique from each
other is the type of music that each flute is designed to play
Origins – Early Music
• Types of Early Flutes

• The earliest known flutes are made of animal bones and oHen
produce limited tunes. Most surviving types are found
throughout Europe & China

• Ancient cultures including the Assyrians, Egyp?ans, Chinese &

Indians also developed flutes with mainly wood based materials
Origins – Early Music
• Early Bone Flute
• Fashioned from a griffon
vulture's wing bone, this
flute (shown from
different angles and with
finger holes enlarged in
inset), is a 40,000-year-
old flute, found in a
German cave, bolsters
the argument that music
helped modern humans
bond—to the detriment
of compe?ng,
presumably music-less
Neanderthals
• Ar#cle Source: Na#onal
Geographic.org
Origins – Early Music
• Pre-historic Double
Flutes
• Assyrian and Egyp?an
Tomb drawings
• Ar#cle Source:
Gutenberg.org
Origins – Early Music
• Materials

• Bamboo however, became the preferred instrument in the East

over centuries of evolu?on by Japanese, Chinese & Indian
scholars

• Though Japanese & Chinese flutes have been redesigned today

with metal parts, the Indian bamboo flutes remained exempt of
such modifica?ons & they remained as an important music
instrument in pre-historic Indian music ?ll the Sangam eras in
South India
Origins – Sangam Music
• Sangam Music
• The Tamil Sangam is an associa?on of literary, ar?s?c
luminaries comprising of royal patrons, barons, musicians,
composers, dancers, ar?sans of fine art and literary scholars

• The Tamil Sangam Age can be divided into 3 periods:

• 1st Sangam Age – circa 10527 B.C.
• 2nd Sangam Age – 6000 B.C. - 3000 B.C.
• 3rd Sangam Age – 1915 B.C. - 850 B.C.

• Each Sangam Age lasted several milleniums and was

repeatedbly founded by the Pandya kings of the ancient Tamil
state of Pandya in South India with their intellectual
powerhouse at Madurai, where the city s?ll exists to this day.
• Source: The Interna#onal Tamil Language Founda#on
Origins – Sangam Music
• During the 3 Great Sangam ears, the evolu?on of Tamil music
saw a new peak with the introduc?on of ragas, thalas, playing
techniques & in the design of the flute

• The Silappadikaram is the first Indian trea?se, wricen in Tamil

that introduces the classical flute with such important details
where it men?ons that the protagonist of the story is an
expert flau?st

• The introduc?on of scales like Harikhamboji, Kalyani,

Mohaman, Valaji & Hindolam defined the flute fingering of all
the 16 notes of South Indian music that is s?ll used today
including the playing posture
Origins – Sangam Music
• The Silappadikaram quotes of 3 types of flutes:
• Kondraikulal
• Ambarkulal
• Mullaikulal

• The Sangam eras also showcased the importance of the with

its associa?on with classical music thereby being the first
civiliza?on to use the flute for classical music in the world

• It is to be noted that the Sangam era pre-dated the period of

the vina, a successor to the Sangam lute. In addi?on, the flute
became a standard instrument of assessing the competency
of Sangam music bards for their patronage in royal courts &
temples
Origins – Post Sangam Music
• Sarangadeva, a North Indian musicologist of repute, began to
read & write extensive commentaries on Indian music & its
instruments with some emphasis on the flute

• His work on the Sangitaratnakara became a technical

masterpiece of Indian music literature that is only parallel to
the Silappadikaram

• It is the only pre-Moghul Sanksrit literature that is highly

regarded by both Hindustani musicians & Carna?c musicians
?ll today
Origins – Post Sangam Music
• 15 varie?es of vamsa (flute) are men?oned by Sarangadeva.
In prac?ce, only the Shanmukhavamsa types are in common
use, the rest are either too short or too long for prac?cal
applica?on

Ekavira Shanmugha Mahananda

Umpa? Muni Rudra
Tripurusha Ashtadasangula Aditya
Chaturmukha Vasu Manu
Panchavaktra Nathendra Kalanidhi
Origins – Post Sangam Music
• AHer the fall of the last Sangam era, the pre-medieval
kingdoms of South India devoted their scholars to compile &
consolidate all remaining Sangam literature

• The Cholas in par?cular took a great leap in enshrining art by

building numerous temples of art, & preserving important art
manuscripts

• They were also the first & the last southern kingdoms to
patronise Sangam music in the courts & temples before being
absorbed into the Vedic tradi?ons in the early years of the
first millenia A.D.
Origins – Vedic Music
• With the rise of the Vijayanagar empire & the decline of the
Cholas, the influence of Vedic music took precedence as its
vocal music tradi?on appealed more to the educated elite of
the royal courts

• The flute declined in its importance as a classical music

instrument giving way to the rise of string instruments which
easily emulated the vocal nuances of Vedic music as opposed
to the flute
Origins – Vedic Music
• In a ?me warp, the flute returned to its early origins in folk
music while Indian music literature con?nued to expand in
leaps & bounds under the Vijayanagar empire

• The art loving Moghuls however had a penchant for flute

music & patronised flau?sts from South India. However no
developments in flute took place in Moghul India. Recorded
patronage of flute music was last noted in Jehangir’s Memoirs
Origins – Modern Era
• It was only in the closing years of the 19th century, that the
flute gained its due classical status. The blind musical prodigy,
Sharaba Shastri revived the instrument by easily playing the
composi?ons of the Trinity with flair & quality. Even though,
the instrument did not achieve the popularity of vocal music

• Playing on the 7-hole Carna?c flute, which is much similar to

the modern bansuri form of North India, the blind musical
genius, Sharaba Shastri, gave a concert worthy status to the
Carna?c flute
Origins – Modern Era
• It was the 8-hole flute which eventually gave a vocal status to
the Carna?c flute which was introduced by T.R. Mahalingam
or becer known as the infamous flute prodigy, Flute Mali

• Influenced by the Nageswaram players using the same

fingering techniques as the ancients used, Mali created the
vocal nuances on the 8-hole flute, & added the 8th hole to
reach the Anumandira Rishaba note which is rarely played and
is extremely difficult. However, using flutes of different
octaves of the same pitch has resolved the issue

• Today most Carna?c flau?sts employ the same techniques

introduced by Mali
Techniques
• Topics

• Playing Styles
• Anatomy
• Basic Fingering
• Playing Posture
• Advisory
Techniques - Playing Styles
• Three - Finger System

• This method is one of the earliest tradi?ons in Tamil music. It was

among the first accepted techniques in South Indian flute playing

• Becer known as the Mundru Viral Sadhakam, this technique

allowed the flau?st to reach up to the thara sthayi dhaivatha, off-
sekng the tonic note by one note

• Its tonic posi?on for Shadjam is the current Kaiski Nishada

posi?on & the Panchama is the current Suddha Madhyama
posi?on. By transposing, the rest of the notes can be played in
this order
Techniques - Playing Styles
• Three - Finger System

• Some of its notable contribu?ons to the evolu?on of Carna?c

flute playing are:

• Advoca?ng the use of transposed fingering which lasted ?ll the

introduc?on of the cross-fingering technique by 'Flute Mali'

• Opening the avenue of playing semitone notes by its own limita?ons,

leading to its eventual disuse.
Techniques - Playing Styles
• Parallel - Fingering System

• Introduced by the blind flute prodigy, Sharaba Shastri, it became the

first accepted standard in performance flute music

• It involved playing the notes in a staccato manner

• Covered the full range of notes in Carna?c music

• Classical composi?ons could be played legibly on the flute without

much difficulty
Techniques - Playing Styles
• Parallel - Fingering System

• Some of its notable contribu?ons to the evolu?on of Carna?c flute

playing are:

• It is the first, ?me tested technique of serious flute playing in the modern
performing era, giving the competent Carna?c flau?st the status of a
soloist

• Opening the possibility of playing the gamakas (joining slides between

notes) or semitone notes but hindered by its own limita?ons, it lead to
the loss of its popularity with the introduc?on of the cross - fingering
technique which allowed the playing of gamakas
Techniques - Playing Styles
• Cross - Fingering System

• Adopted from the Nadeswaram playing technique, cross-fingering is

a method where air is allowed through a finger hole(s) leH open
between closed finger holes

• In cross-fingering technique, semitones (sharp & flat notes) &

quarter-tones (altered sharp & flat notes for sruthi specific playing)
can be played appropriately

• Semitones can be played alternately with different fingering

Techniques - Playing Styles
• Cross - Fingering System

• Semitone produc?on using cross - fingering is discussed in the

following examples:

• Assuming Suddha Rishaba (R1) is played with 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, & 7 finger-

holes closed, it will be the same as playing 1st finger-hole closed &
the 2nd par?ally closed

• Playing Suddha Dhaivatha (D1) with 1 – 4, 6 & 7 finger- holes closed,

leaving the 5th finger-hole open, will yield the same note as playing 1
– 4 finger-holes closed & leaving the 5th par?ally opened
Techniques - Playing Styles
• Cross - Fingering System

• Semitone produc?on using cross - fingering is discussed in the

following examples:

• Playing R1 with cross-fingering as discussed earlier, will yield a

double note; R, R, when the 2nd finger-hole is tapped & released. In
conven?onal play, R, R, is obtained by sliding the finger to S posi?on
& back; R1, S, R1

• Playing D1 with cross-fingering as discussed earlier, will yield a

double note; D, D, when the 5th finger-hole is tapped & released. In
conven?onal play, D, D, is obtained by sliding the finger to S posi?on
& back; D1, P, D1
Techniques - Playing Styles
• Cross - Fingering System

• The produc?on of quarter-tones are explained as follows:

• Quarter-tones are produced by altering the extent of opening the

finger-holes for the note for specific sruthi based on the 22-sruthi
system in Carna?c music

Opening Hole Shruthi

1/4 opened Ekashruthi
1/2 opened Dvishruthi
3/4 opened Trishruthi
Fully opened Chatushruthi
Techniques - Anatomy
• Design & Construc0on

• In Asia, the bamboo has found itself many uses including the
manufacture of furniture, medicine, tex?les, weapons, wri?ng
instruments & surfaces & even bicycles

• As a musical instrument, it is ideally preferred because of its uniform

shape, strength, durability & excellent acous?c proper?es. The
Chinese, Japanese & the Indonesians have made a wide range of
musical instruments from the bamboo alone

• In India, 2 types of bamboo are used in the manufacture of the flute:

• Assamese bamboo - bansuri (North Indian flute)
• Nilambur, Kerala bamboo - venu (South Indian flute)
Techniques - Anatomy
• Design & Construc0on

• Unknown to many, the bamboo is actually a type of grass & not a

tree-like plant

• It belongs to the Poaceae grass family, a species of grass that appear

to have proper?es of trees though biologically exhibit proper?es of
grass plants

• There are over 1400 species of bamboo around the world & they
can be seen in the countries of all the 3 tropic zones
Techniques - Anatomy
• Design & Construc0on

• There are no discrimina?ng factors for the choice of these 2

bamboos musically

• In the past, the geographical proximity of these materials at the

respec?ve places prompted flute makers to select them at their
convenience

• Today, however, both types of bamboo are being played by both

North & South Indian flau?sts as well as making them into North &
South Indian flutes
Techniques - Anatomy
• Design & Construc0on

• The most challenging part of the the manufacture involves primarily

in the selec?on of the right type of bamboo

• Regardless of the type, flute makers look out for the following
factors when selec?ng flute making bamboo:

• Uniformity (Preferaby, straight bamboos are selected)

• Cracks (Cracks will distrupt the boring process seriously)
• Reed Thickness (Nilambur bamboo is usually thicker)
• Length (longer flutes have lower pitch)
• Bore Diameter (small diameters require heavy blowing)
Techniques - Anatomy
• Design & Construc0on

• In Carna?c music, a thicker reed is oHen preferred as a rich tone is

produced, which mimics the vocal form of the music extremely well

• Nevertheless, varying the length of an Assamese bamboo can also

produce the same effect

• Competent Carna?c flau?sts use both bamboo types in their

performances
Techniques - Anatomy
• Design & Construc0on

• The boring process is the next most tedious part. The bamboo
flute cannot be bored using conven?onal boring machines as
it will shacer the the en?re material

• Instead, a heated iron rod is pressed square to the surface of

the bamboo pressing it un?l it passed through the reed

• The challenge is boring at the right distance between each

hole. A wrong placement would require the en?re effort to be
restarted as the notes will not fall in place
Techniques - Anatomy
Techniques – Basic Fingering
• Shadjam
• Madhya & Thara Sthayi

• This is the 9-hole Carna?c flute,

the closed fingers are the first 2
finger holes, followed by the rest
un?l the 8th hole. The extreme
leH as seen is the mouth hole & is
closed at the leH end

• Played by closing the first 2 finger

holes from the blow hole

• Thara sthayi Shadjam is played by

overblowing, un?l a shrill is heard
Techniques – Basic Fingering
• Suddha Rishabam
• Madhya & Thara Sthayi

• Played by par?ally closing the 2nd

finger hole from the blow hole &
closing the 1st hole

• Depending on the design of the

flute, the extent of closing the
hole is very subjec?ve

• Thara sthayi Rishabam is played

by overblowing, un?l a shrill is
achieved
Techniques – Basic Fingering
• Chatushruthi Rishabam
• Madhya & Thara Sthayi

• Played by closing the 1st finger

hole from the blow hole

• Thara sthayi Rishabam is played

by overblowing, un?l a shrill is
achieved
Techniques – Basic Fingering
• Sadharana Gandharam
• Madhya & Thara Sthayi

• Played by par?ally closing the 1st

finger hole from the blow hole

• Depending on the design of the

flute, the extent of closing the
hole is very subjec?ve

• Thara sthayi Ghandaram is played

by overblowing, un?l a shrill is
achieved
Techniques – Basic Fingering
• Antara Ghandaram
• Madhya & Thara Sthayi

• Played without closing any finger

holes

• Thara sthayi Ghandaram fingering

may vary with different flutes

• Thara sthayi Ghandaram is played

by overblowing, un?l a shrill is
achieved
Techniques – Basic Fingering
• Suddha Madhyamam
• Mandira, Madhya & Thara
Sthayi

• Played by closing all finger holes

except the 1st & the 8th holes

• Thara sthayi Madhyamam is

played by overblowing, un?l a
shrill is achieved

• To play the Mandira sthayi, close

the first 6 holes and blow soHly
Techniques – Basic Fingering
• Prathi Madhyamam
• Mandira, Madhya & Thara
Sthayi

• Played by closing the first 5 holes

and par?ally closing the 6th hole.
Blow soHly for Mandira sthayi

• Depending on the design of the

flute, the extent of closing the 6th
hole is very subjec?ve

• Thara sthayi Madhyamam is played

by overblowing and closing the 1st,
2nd & 6th finger holes. The 3rd hole
is par?ally closed
Techniques – Basic Fingering
• Panchamam
• Mandira, Madhya & Thara
Sthayi

• Played by closing the first 5 holes.

Blow soHly for Mandira sthayi

• Thara sthayi Panchamam is played

by overblowing and closing the 1st,
2nd & 6th finger holes

• Depending on the design of the

flute, the fingering for Thara sthayi is
very subjec?ve
Techniques – Basic Fingering
• Suddha Dhaivatham
• Mandira & Madhya Sthayi

• Played by closing the first 4 holes

and closing the 5th hole par?ally.
Blow soHly for Mandira sthayi

• Thara sthayi Dhaivatham is usually

never played due to the extremely
high shrill sound and difficulty in
overblowing unless flutes of
different octaves of the same pitch
are used
Techniques – Basic Fingering
• Chatushruthi Dhaivatham
• Mandira & Madhya Sthayi

• Played by closing the first 4 holes.

Blow soHly for Mandira sthayi

• Thara sthayi Dhaivatham is usually

never played due to the extremely
high shrill sound and difficulty in
overblowing unless flutes of
different octaves of the same pitch
are used
Techniques – Basic Fingering
• Kaakali Nishadam
• Mandira & Madhya Sthayi

• Played by closing the first 2 holes

and par?ally closing the 3rd hole.
Blow soHly for Mandira sthayi

• Thara sthayi Nishadam is usually

never played due to the extremely
high shrill sound and difficulty in
overblowing unless flutes of
different octaves of the same pitch
are used
Techniques – Basic Fingering
• Kaisiki Nishadam
• Mandira & Madhya Sthayi

• Played by closing the first 3 holes.

Blow soHly for Mandira sthayi

• Thara sthayi Nishadam is usually

never played due to the extremely
high shrill sound and difficulty in
overblowing unless flutes of
different octaves of the same pitch
are used
Techniques – Advisory
• It is to be noted that the above demonstra?ons only serve as
an introductory guide to the budding flute student

• Only the close guidance of a competent flau?st is important

to achieve in playing the notes correctly

• Due to the distance between the holes of the flute & the
thickness of the bamboo, fingering for certain swaras may
vary
Performers
• Topics

• Sharaba Shastri
• Palladam Sanjeeva Rao
• Tirupamburam Swaminatha Pillai
• Tiruvidaimarudur Ramaswamy Mahalingam
• Tanjore Viswanathan
• Natesan Ramani
• Shashank Subramanyam
Performers
• Sharaba Shastri (1872 - 1904 A.D.)

• He hails from the direct disciplic lineage of Saint Thyagaraja

through Manamunchavadi Venkatasubbaiyar (1803 - 1862 A.D.)
& Muthuswami Dikshitar shisya parampara through the illustrious
nadeswaram maestro, polyglot vocalist Kurainadu Ramaswami
Pillai (1830 - 1925 A.D.)

• Even though he was blind, he was quickly recognised as a prodigy

who had an uncanny sense of swara nyana (ability to grasp
musical notes on the spot which is also known as "note wisdom").
He was also thought to have possessed "nada siddhi" or musical
perfec?on, where reports have men?oned that he brought rains
when playing raga Amrithavarshini & acracted snakes when
playing raga Punnagavarali.
Performers
• Palladam Sanjeeva Rao (1882 - 1962 A.D.)

• The foremost disciple of Sharaba Shastri who spent his en?re life
promo?ng the instrument on the concert circuit and established
himself as the first professional Carna?c flau?st.

• However, he was unable to mimic the vocal nuances of Carna?c

music. This prevented the instrument from being used as an
accompanying medium in vocal concerts. The fingering widely
used ?ll then was known as parallel fingering

• He was highly acclaimed as a musician and oHen discussed and

debated cri?cally with Gudalur Narayanaswamy Iyer (the father
of the legendary vocalist G. N. Balasubramaniam) and the likes of
Ariyakudi Ramanjua Iyengar in the former’s residence. The young
G. N. Balasubramaniam would precisely reproduce the notes
played by Rao in singing them during music discussions
Performers
• Tirupamburam Swaminatha Pillai (1898 - 1961 A.D.)

• He hails from the direct shisya parampara of Muthuswami Dikshitar and his
father, renowned vocalist and nadaswaram maestro learned from
Panchanada Iyer, the direct disciple of Muthuswami Dikshitar together with
Veena Dhanammal

• He was apt in singing, playing the nadeswaram and later switched to the
flute. His style was very much similar to that of Flute Mali focussing on the
gamakas of vocal music and the vilambakala bani of Muthuswami Dikshitar.
Flute Mali himself was full of praise for the self-taught Swaminatha Pillai
though the later did not give much concerts as Mali or Palladam Sanjeeva
Rao. In his later years, he taught at the Central College of Music, Madras

• Swaminatha Pillai played a lot of Dikshitar kri?s in his concerts. The

Chaturdasha Ragamalika, SrI Vishvanatham was introduced to the concert
stage and popularised by him. The Navaroj kri? Has?vadanaya
Namasthubyam was also popularised by him. He also pa?ently studied the
108 raga-talamalika of Ramaswami Dikshitar and taught it to deserving
students
Performers
• Tiruvidaimarudur Ramaswamy Mahalingam (1926 - 1986 A.D.)

• He is hailed as the flau?st who had put back Carna?c flute to its original glory
and stature in par with Carna?c vocal music and revamped the flute playing
techniques popularised by Palladam Sanjeeva Rao
• A child prodigy and self-taught flau?st, he adopted the cross-fingering
technique that is used by Nadeswaram ar?stes and effec?vely emulated the
vocal nuances of Carna?c music
• Equally at ease in vocal and in the violin, his eccentric behaviour both in his
personal and professional life put him on the cross hairs of cri?cism and
ridicule. His long and close rela?onship with the Nadeswaram legend T. N.
Rajarathinam Pillai was legendary and they both had prac?sed together and
discussed many ideas on music
• His music was so admired that the legendary G.N. Balasubramaniam told
Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer in a concert that he might want to consider
quikng singing aHer witnessing a mesmerising recital in a packed concert
hall
• He stood against the commercialisa?on of the art warning that ar?s?c
progress will be hampered and he refused the pres?gious Padma Bhushan
award from the Government of India
Performers
• Natesan Ramani (1934 A.D.)

• One of the foremost disciples of Flute Mali, he first learnt vocal and flute
music from his grandfather Azhayur Narayanaswamy Iyer who is a
competent vocalist and flau?st and provided guidance to the legendary
Ariyakudi Ramanajua Iyengar, the Father of the Modern Carna?c Concert
format
• Under the guidance of Flute Mali, he honed his techniques and incorporated
ideas from a legion of yesteryear legends including G. N. Balasubramaniam,
Alathoor Brothers, Ramanuja Iyengar and the like to create a style that is
uniquely his own
• He was the first Carna?c flau?st to introduce bass flutes and flutes of
different octaves in the same pitch as well as transposed fingering in Carna?c
music and was the first Carna?c instrumentalist to go on world tours
• He also changed the pitch of the instrument to 2.5 or D Sharp that he found
suitable when playing alongside the veena and the violin
• He also popularised this pitch in Hindustani music and designed bass flutes
for the legendary Hindustani flau?st Pt. Pannalal Ghosh, a protégé of Ustad
Baba Allahudin Khan. In his later years, he gave numerous Jugalbhandi
concerts with ar?stes like Dr. M. Balamuralikrishna, Palghat K. V.
Narayanaswamy, Maharajapuram Santhanam, Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia. Smt.
S Rajam and the like. He currently runs the Ramani Academy of Flute
Performers
• Tanjore Viswanathan (1927 - 2002 A.D.)

• A prime disciple of Tirupamburam Swaminatha Pillai, he belongs to

the family to Veena Dhanammal who was his grandmother and his
sister is the legendary T. Balasarswathi who is regarded as the
greatest Bharatanatyam dancer of the last century
• Unlike his contemporaries , he had established himself as a
competent performer and academic, first studying ethnomusicology
at UCLA on a Fulbright scholarship and upon comple?on of his PhD,
teaching at UCLA, CALArts and Wesleyan University. Several of his
students at Wesleyan University are currently teaching Carna?c
music in the University
• He also derived a method of wri?ng gamakas in a nota?on form
which he stressed would help flau?sts understand the vocal nuances
of Carna?c music more easily
• He is the recipient of many awards including the Sangeetha
Kalanidhi, the Sangeet Natak Academy Award and the pres?gious
Na?onal Heritage Fellowship from the USA
Performers
• Shashank Subramanyam (1978 A.D.)

• A child prodigy and self-taught on the instrument, he had his ini?al

schooling in Carna?c vocal music from the Carna?c vocal legends
Palghat K. V. Narayanaswamy and R. K. Srikantan. He also learnt
Hindustani classical vocal music under Pt. Jasraj
• He introduced the transposed fingering and double octave blowing
method in Carna?c flute playing and further enriched the techniques
introduced by Dr. N. Ramani including the use of mul?ple flutes of
different octaves and bass flutes
• He has given numerous concerts including Jazz collabora?ons all over
the world in numerous pres?gious venues. He had also conducted
workshops and lecture demonstra?ons on the Carna?c flute in
Europe and in the USA
• He is currently a “A-Top” rank grade ar?ste in the pres?gious All-
India-Radio (AIR) grading system. He has performed with several
legendary musicians in India and abroad
Evaluation
• Topics

• Major Issues
• Future of the Art
Evaluation
• Major Issues

• Mastery of the fingering is the most difficult in flute playing and

requires relentless effort, prac?se and proper guidance from a
competent teacher before a budding flau?st can decently play on
the instrument without commikng any major errors

• Availability of concert worthy flutes are rare and do not come by

easy as there are not many professional flute makers around today
as compared to the past

• Not all ragas can be played with the same finesse. Fingering can
change dras?cally to evoke the proper swarasthanas and gamakas
of specific ragas regardless of their length and structure. Ragas like
Ranjani, Hemavathi, Thodi, Bhairavi and Varali require complicated
fingering to play properly
Evaluation
• Major Issues

• Playing the instrument requires mul?-tasking skills where the thala

and raga being played on the instrument must be kept in check by
the ar?ste together with proper breath control techniques

• Regular exercise in the form of yoga or otherwise, strong lung-heart

health and intense concentra?on is mandatory for a performer to
perform mul?-hour concerts and recitals

• Knowledge of and competency in vocal music is important to

understand the vocal nuances of Carna?c music and will open
avenues for budding ar?stes to learn new and rare composi?ons by
themselves
Evaluation
• Future of the Art

• It is important to note the Carna?c flute has contributed

immensely to the growth of Indian classical music in its early
years and for this reason alone, it must be treasured for
posterity

• Apart from India, competent Carna?c flau?sts in the West like

Mr Joseph Gecer (Tirupamburam Swaminatha Pillai-style) of
Wesleyan University and Mr Ludwig Pesch of Germany
(Palladam Sanjeeva Rao-style) have fervently promoted
Carna?c music especially the flute in the West and the lacer is
also using Carna?c music in rehabilita?ve therapy
Conclusion
The presenta0on serves as a pla\orm to create an interest in
the Carna0c flute to all classical music lovers & to appreciate
the unique musical richness & value that the instrument
possess.
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References
• Pesch, L 2012, Ludwig Pesch >> carna#cstudent.org. Available from:
<hcp://www.carna?cstudent.org/course/wordpress/more-about-the-
course-and-the-tutors/ludwig-pesch>. [05 Nov 2014].
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